AUBURN HILLS- Chrysler Group LLC, the automaker that many thought was bound to fail four years ago, is alive and well.
The most recent sign of the Auburn Hills-based company’s prosperity occurred Thursday in Kokomo, Ind., where Chrysler announced it will hire 1,250 new workers and invest $374 million to build fuel-efficient eight- and nine-speed transmissions.
Chrysler’s eight-speed automatic transmission is already starting to appear in the Jeep Grand Cherokee and rear-wheel-drive Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger cars, officials said.
A recently announced nine-speed transmission is expected to debut on the 2014 Jeep Cherokee, which replaces the Jeep Liberty for the 2014 model year, followed by the redesigned Chrysler 200 and Dodge Dart sedans.
Higher speed transmissions help to boost performance and fuel economy.
The investment includes spending $212 million to upgrade two of its plants in Kokomo and $162 million to purchase a new facility and equipment in nearby Tipton, located about 20 miles south of Kokomo.
Chrysler will add up to 400 new jobs Kokomo Transmission, Kokomo Casting and Indiana Transmission I Plants and up to 850 new jobs at Chrysler’s newly named Tipton Transmission plant. The new jobs are expected to bring Chrysler’s total employment in the area to more than 7,000 people.
In total, Chrysler’s investments in its U.S. facilities have risen to nearly $5.2 billion since June 2009, when Italian automaker Fiat SpA took stake in the company following its government-backed bankruptcy. In the same time frame, Chrysler has added nearly 8,000 U.S. hourly jobs.
“This is the sole region where we manufacture transmissions, and - including all of the nearby facilities - it will be the largest transmission installation in the world,” said Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne, according to prepared remarks from the announcement.
The Tipton plant will be located in a building originally constructed several years ago to house a transmission plant to be operated by Getrag, and then was slated to house a solar panel maker. It is the first new manufacturing facility for Chrysler since it opened its Trenton South engine plant in March 2010.
Once complete in 2014, the new plant will build Chrysler’s new nine-speed automatic transmission.
The new transmission is expected to place Chrysler even farther ahead of its domestic rivals in terms of transmission technology, according to Karl Brauer, editor in chief and CEO of TotalCarScore.com.
“It’s pretty aggressive since they just hit with an eight-speed,” he told MLive.com. “They’re already ahead of the game.”
Chrysler is the sole domestic automaker to offer an eight-speed transmission and one of only two automakers to announce a nine-speed transmission. Earlier this week, Land Rover announced it will demonstrate a nine-speed automatic transmission next week at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show.
Chrysler has traditionally been known to be a leader in the transmission industry. As Brauer points out, Chrysler in the early 60s was offering a three-speed transmission when crosstown rival General Motors Co. was offering its C2 Corvette in a two-speed.
According to Chrysler, Marchionne was joined by Indiana Gov Mike Pence, Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight, Tipton Mayor Don Havens, other local public officials, UAW Regional Director Ken Lortz, and employees at an event at the Kokomo Transmission Plant.
Those interested in employment with Chrysler should check for available positions at chryslercareers.com. Hiring for the positions in Kokomo will begin in the second quarter. Tipton positions will be available in the fourth quarter.
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